Kenya's Plan to Close Two Camps Worries Refugees
Voice of America
The Kenya Interior Ministry's announcement last week of its intention to close two major camps has increased uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of refugees, leaving many of them distraught. CS @FredMatiangi issues UNHCR with 14 day ultimatum to have road map on definite closure of Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps. Says no room for further negotiations. pic.twitter.com/8z3yLMjzgD
"I am not ready to be repatriated to Somalia," fretted Muslima Abdullahi, an 80-year-old woman living in Hagadera, part of the Dadaab refugee complex in northeastern Kenya. "I have nine orphaned children here," she added. Years ago, terrified by insecurity, she left her homeland and she's wary of returning now. "My house has been taken. I have no property or livestock. I don't have a job ahead of me. I am not ready for the process" of repatriation. Ready or not, Kenya's government says she and other refugees will have no choice but to leave the country. On March 24, Interior Minister Fred Matiangi announced Kenya had given the U.N. Refugee Agency 14 days to present a plan to close Dadaab and Kakuma camps.
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